Modern Wedding Dilemmas Part 1

In ‘the good old days’, the etiquette for wedding invitations was relatively simple. The bride’s parents paid for the wedding, so they sent out the invitation; the wording rarely changed. The wedding would be at a church, followed by a wedding breakfast at another venue – often the host’s house. Other things were different, too. The bride and groom normally lived separately, so wedding presents were needed to help them set up home. Usually, the bride did not have children before the wedding, and guests would have lived nearby.

For the modern bride, things can be quite different. This makes writing the invitations more complicated, as traditional wedding wording may not be relevant to them. As such, it’s crucial that the wedding invitation and accompanying information have clear wording to reflect any breaks from tradition. We have over ten years of experience in guiding brides through the dilemmas of a modern wedding. Here is our guide to some of those difficult areas of communication.

Who Sends the Invitation?

The wedding invitation comes from the person paying for the wedding, the host. Traditionally, this was the bride’s father. The modern couple, however, will often pay some or all of the costs, in which case the invitation should be from them. Other scenarios are that it’s paid for by both sets of parents, the bride’s divorced parents, or a single parent.

Venue Information

Although many people still marry at the church and then go for a reception elsewhere, some choose venues that hold both the service and reception.

Your wedding invitation needs to make it clear where everything is happening. Include times and the type of refreshments that will be provided. You may think that canapés are fine if you are having an afternoon wedding, as guests will have eaten lunch. However, they may have skipped lunch in anticipation of a sit-down meal.

Modern Wedding Presents

These days, people are getting married later in life and living together before their wedding. Because of this, most couples don’t need wedding presents to set up home. Whilst many couples do have gift lists, other couples will not want presents. Some prefer money towards their honeymoon, and others request a donation to charity.

Children at Weddings

Many people have children before they get married, and want to involve them in the wedding. Most parents, particularly of small children, would expect youngsters to be invited. However, inviting everyone’s children can really stretch the venue – and your budget. You might not want children at the wedding, or you might only invite the ones included in the bridal party.

Practical Information

If your guests will be travelling some distance, you will need to provide them with information of nearby hotels and guest houses. Guests will appreciate directions to key locations. You could put this information on your wedding webpage; if so, the web address needs to be included with the invitation. Otherwise, you need to include these details with the relevant invitations. You can use guest information cards to avoid cluttering your invites with extra wording.

If you have any other dilemmas concerning your modern wedding invitation wording, please get in touch with us! Our team will be happy to help you.